An administration error the prisons system Samoa resulted in a man being incarcerated five years longer than he was sentenced to serve. Sio Agafili, 45, should have been released prison in December 2015 after serving two concurrent jail terms. In November 2008, Mr Agafili was convicted burglary and theft and sentenced to seven years in prison. A month later he was found guilty other misdemeanours and slapped a five-year sentence. The default procedure in Samoa's criminal justice system is that a convict two sentences must serve them concurrently and not consecutively. The error was spotted recently a judge when Mr Agafili appeared in court another charge.
In an interview the Samoa Observer newspaper, Agafili described his anguish spending too long behind bars. He said: "It's broken me a million pieces. No one told me when my jail term would end. I lost count the days. I don't remember much about when I should be . I just know I had to serve my time bars." Mr Agafili's lawyer Muriel Lui spoke to reporters about the injustice suffered her client. She said: "He's been imprisoned unlawfully. I've heard other cases of a similar nature. This is not the first this type." She added: "His right to liberty has definitely been breached." Ms Lui said that she would be seeking compensation her client.
